


Cool as Heck

by daniomalley



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Hopeful Ending, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 02:19:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10350195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daniomalley/pseuds/daniomalley
Summary: The story of how Papyrus met Undyne's neighbour.





	

The Underground was small, and Papyrus made a point to get to know as many monsters as he could, as was befitting someone who aspired to join the Royal Guard. That was how it started.

He'd met Napstablook one evening after training with Undyne. They'd been floating along, headphones over their head, humming softly, and Papyrus had walked past, thinking about the fact that Undyne had told him his form had improved, and his stirring technique was really coming along.

He'd walked past the little ghost, not realising how close he was, and Napstablook had squeaked and floated halfway into the cavern wall, then fallen all over themselves with apologies.

"Nonsense!" Papyrus had insisted. "I'm the one who startled you! You should let me make it up to you by allowing me to cook you dinner."

His stirring technique was really coming along, after all.

"Ohhhh, but... oh, no......" Napstablook said, which as far as Papyrus could tell, meant: ‘Sure! Thank you for being so considerate.’

He'd returned the next day with a container of spaghetti. Napstablook picked up a fork, but a look of terrible dismay crossed their face as they realised that they couldn't actually eat the solid food.

"Oh, no... I've messed up again..."

"It's fine! It's not your fault! "Papyrus insisted. "I'll eat this, and I'll think of something else for us to do."

"Oh no... I keep making it worse... you shouldn't have to come back again..."

"I want to, though!" Papyrus said, and Napstablook stopped fretting, a slight pink tint colouring their face.

Napstablook loved music. They played their favourite songs for Papyrus and explained what they liked about them. Papyrus found his favourite and most challenging music-themed junior jumbles and was amazed at how easily Napstablook solved them.

"You must love puzzles like I do!"

Napstablook blushed like they did sometimes and finished filling in the squares to spell 'allegro'. "No... I think I just know a lot of music words..."

"Music is a little bit like a puzzle, don't you think?" Papyrus asked, and then, on the heels of that thought came the idea, "What if we could make a puzzle that you could solve with music?"

"Undyne made one like that..." Napstablook said, and then they showed Papyrus the piano a bit further into Waterfall. They spent a little while half-heartedly trying to solve it together, but gave it up as too difficult.

Napstablook accepted Papyrus's friend invitation on Undernet. "Now I'm only a dozen away from a double digit follower count!" he exclaimed. Napstablook didn't seem as excited about it as he did, but that was fine. Not everyone worked as hard at making friends as Papyrus did.

When the human came, it was like a dream come true. "Now I have another friend!" he told Napstablook. "That's you, and Undyne, and Sans I suppose, the lazybones, and now Frisk. This is the most popular I've ever been!"

"We're friends?" Napstablook asked.

"Didn't you know? Of course we're friends!"

Napstablook didn't smile very often. Every time they did, it was gone so quickly Papyrus doubted whether he'd really seen it. This time, though, the smile lingered for the rest of the day.

After the date, Papyrus wondered if perhaps he wasn't so great after all. He'd never normally admit that to anyone, but somehow he didn't mind telling Napstablook. He thought he could probably tell Napstablook he'd messed up and they'd still like him and want to hang out with him.

"I didn't mean to lead them on!" Papyrus said, wringing his hands. "I didn't think it would turn out like that. I got so caught up in being the best at dating, I acted like a selfish oaf."

"Oh, no..." said Napstablook. "You didn't mean any harm, though. I'm sure they'll understand."

"I think I really messed up," Papyrus admitted, ashamed. "I thought if we spent some more time together I'd start to feel that way towards them. I thought that was how these things worked, because, well, look at us!"

Napstablook stared at him, and Papyrus realised that he had perhaps inadvertently admitted more than he'd intended to. Papyrus wasn't one to agonise over such things, though, so he smiled and shrugged.

"I suppose I've learned that you can't just _decide_ to have feelings like that. They're special. Maybe you need to have the feelings first and date the person second. Napstablook... would _you_ like to go on a date with me?”

Napstablook looked down at the ground, their eyes wide and shiny. "I'd only weigh you down," they whispered, and then floated away through the wall.

Papyrus slumped, disappointed to be met with failure for the second time that day. But he would be okay. Undyne had taught him never to give up. And Napstablook hadn't said that they didn't want to date Papyrus. They’d said they’d only weigh him down, like they thought they weren’t good enough for Papyrus. And while Papyrus knew he was very great, he cared for Napstablook so much because they were almost as great as he was. He couldn’t let Napstablook go on thinking so little of themselves.

Papyrus would just have to convince them they were wrong. No one was more convincing than he was, after all.


End file.
